Ferrer will open for Spain in Davis Cup final

Prague, Czech Republic (Sports Network) - The 100th Davis Cup final will
get underway Friday with an opening singles rubber between world No. 5 star
David Ferrer and Czech veteran Radek Stepanek.

Reigning champion Spain and the Czech Republic will square off in a best-of-
five tie on an indoor hardcourt at Prague's O2 Arena.

Ferrer-Stepanek will be followed by a match between sixth-ranked Czech Tomas
Berdych and world No. 11 Spaniard Nicolas Almagro.

Saturday's doubles bout in Prague will pit a Spanish duo of Marcel Granollers
and Marc Lopez against a Czech duo of Ivo Minar and Lukas Rosol. Granollers
and Lopez are fresh off their surprise title at last week's season-ending ATP
World Tour Finals in London, which just concluded on Monday.

Sunday's reverse singles in Prague call for Ferrer to battle the former
Wimbledon runner-up Berdych and Almagro to take on the 34-year-old world No.
37 Stepanek.

Spain will play without injured superstar Rafael Nadal, who has been sidelined
with knee problems since June.

The Spaniards are captained by former top-five star Alex Corretja, while the
host Czechs are piloted by Jaroslav Navratil.

Five-time champion Spain has won three of the last four Davis Cup titles,
including a 5-0 sweep of the Czech Republic in the 2009 finale in Barcelona.

The former Czechoslovakia captured its lone Davis Cup title in 1980.

Spain is 4-2 all-time versus the Czechs, including 2-0 against the Czech
Republic. The Spaniards went 2-2 against the former Czechoslovakia in a series
that started back in 1931.